The use of aluminum and other metal cans has greatly increased within the last twenty years particularly in the field of canned soft drinks and beer. The employment of aluminum in the manufacture of these cans has met with considerable success and the employment of aluminum in the manufacture of the cans instead of other metals has enabled the manufacturer of cans to provide an easy opening tab at one end thereof which may be easily manipulated to form an opening in the can. Also, for shipping purposes, all aluminum cans are much lighter than the previous can's construction of sheet steel or sheet metal. The employment of aluminum in the manufacture of cans has increased the cost of manufacture due to the higher cost of aluminum as compared to the prior materials of construction. Therefore, recycling of empty cans is an established element of commerce which not only benefits society in removing cans from highways and byways but provides free enterprise funding for recycle, thus collection and reuse disposal.
Numerous devices have been provided in the past to crush empty cans that previously held beverages, fruits or vegetables, motor oil and the like. Historically, the focus has been on crushing the can in the most efficient way possible in terms of cost and efforts so that the remanents take up less space in a garbage bag or a box until the cans are disposed of permanently, generally in a landfill. However, in recent years widespread concern about the environment has led to the enactment of popularly called "bottle bills" which require manufacturers of soft drinks and beer to charge a deposit on cans as well as other beverage containers such as bottles, so as to encourage the purchasers to return the empty containers to the store rather than discard these containers at the expense of the environment. Parallel to this method of encouraging recycle of cans, recycling centers have become a part of every day life in almost every community wherein aluminum cans may be sold. Unfortunately, recycled aluminum cans are very light and bulky for collectors and recyclers. A need exists for apparatus and methods by which the aluminum can may be crushed for collection, handling, return storage and shipping recycle purposes.
A small economic emphasis created by reimbursement of a deposit charge as well as cash paid per pound for recycled aluminum at the recycle centers encourages the population in general to avoid litter and the separation of aluminum can from other waste materials which eventually wind up in solid waste disposal systems inclusive of landfills. Both the recycle and return for deposit methods assist in the preservation of natural resources by encouraging manufacturers of beverage containers to reuse the containers or recycle the materials of which the containers are made. In fact the beverage containers, specifically aluminum beverage containers, which have been frequently and continue to be thoughtlessly discarded in public places will be collected by individuals to whom the recycle purchases are sufficient to encourage these individuals to collect aluminum cans from public places inclusive of the streets, highways and parks.
The so-called bottle bills have caused a number of storage and transportation problems for example, empty cans take up an unreasonable amount of space in handling and shipping. The expanded space requirements of storage and handling of these cans creates inconveniences and substantial overhead expenses which in many cases nullify the recycle value. Unlike bottles which may be sterilized and refilled, empty cans must eventually be crushed and their component materials recycled. It is desirable, since cans are safer, more compact, lighter and easier to store when crushed, to further encourage the use of cans by providing devices and methods for home, restaurant, bar and other commercial uses which can fold and crush these empty cans so that their density takes up a fraction of their previous space. Merely crushing the cans, however, in a conventional fashion simply will not suffice. Most states currently have no statutory deposit requirements and yet the bottlers use essentially the same designs on their cans across state lines. To avoid fraud, therefore, the cans must be identifiable as deposit cans. Furthermore, the trademark on the side of the can must be identifiable so that the can will be returned to the proper supplier. Once cans have been crushed by various prior art crushing devices which flatten the cans in a plane through the longitudinal axis, the written material on the sides of the cans are unreadable. In other aspects the faces, i.e., the circular end face of the can, generally contain the deposit information on the upper face. Most can crushing operations squeeze the two end faces of the can toward each other. This is just as unsatisfactory for purposes of the bottle bill concept because, after the operation is complete, the cylindrical wall is entirely obscured and thus identification of the trademark or the name of the manufacturer or bottler is impossible.
Other devices provide crushed cans wherein all the relevant printed matter is identifiable. In these crushers, the can is creased at the center of the cylindrical wall either prior to or during the crushing operation. However, in most of the embodiments disclosed, two separate manual operations are required, the first to crease the can and the second to complete the fold of the can. In other embodiments the creasing element is never fully retracted during the crushing operation and thus the printed matter on the end faces of the can is partly obstructed.
Several references exist which describe apparatus for laterally crushing cans as opposed to crushing in an end to end matter. In this regard U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,941, issued to Bynumw Moller and U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,618, issued to Warren R. Heiser et al. present apparatus and methodology for crushing cans by first laterally compressing the central portion of the can to inwardly tilt the can's opposite ends, and then further flattening the can by further tilting the can ends until they lie in generally the same plane and parallel to the flattened can body. In this regard the can crushing sequence of the Moller reference provides a center crushing element which is pushed through a slot in a stationary plate to laterally flatten the center portion of the can against a movable plate. The crushing element is then withdrawn and the movable plate is moved to flatten the can against the stationary plate. The flattened can is then dropped through a slot thus removing the can from the apparatus.
A similar crushing sequence is presented in the Heiser et al. reference wherein a plunger is moved forward through a slot in a movable plate to crush a central portion of a can. The plunger is then withdrawn and the movable plate is moved to complete the lateral crushing of the can which is then dropped through an opening.
A need still remains for improved can crushing apparatus for use in the home, commercial establishments and the like. Such a need can be further filled by an apparatus which has fully automation capability for crushing cans, along with safety limitations and yet which provides a crusher wherein the moving plates define motion which is unilateral. Apparatus which avoids moving the plates in opposing directions at the same time provides a more smoothly operating longer life apparatus. In another aspect apparatus is needed which can provide can crushing using minimum power and sizing for general home use. Thus, one of many objects of the invention is to provide a can crusher which may be of simple construction and easy to use so as to provide an apparatus that will be economically feasible, longlasting and relatively trouble free in operation.